Schools

New Principal Appointed for Haddam Killingworth High School

The Board of Education voted unanimously Tuesday night to appoint Donna Hayward as the next principal of Haddam Killingworth High School

The following is a press release from Region 17 Superintendent of Schools Howard Thiery.

On Tuesday night the Board of Education completed the final round of interviews and voted unanimously to appoint Ms. Donna Hayward as the next Principal of Haddam Killingworth High School. 

Ms. Hayward comes to us with a deep and successful experience as a high school math teacher, high school assistant principal and high school principal.  

She was named the Connecticut Assistant Principal of the Year in 2006 when she was assistant principal at Rocky Hill High School. 

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Her experience as a high school principal at Rocky Hill and Suffield High Schools has shown her to be a talented and successful school, community and instructional leader.

Ms. Hayward was selected by a first and second round selection committee made up of teachers, students, parents, administrators and Board members and was then interviewed and appointed by the Board of Education. 

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The pool of candidates was a deep and experienced one including many sitting principals and assistant principals. 

In all of the selection rounds she was identified as the outstanding candidate.

Ms. Hayward exhibited many qualities that caused her to stand out to the committees. Among these were:

  •  A documented track record of successfully leading a high school and improving instructional quality, improving student achievement, improving community collaboration and improving school climate and culture.
  • Her work as a high school leader and her responses in the interviews show that she has a deep knowledge and understanding of teaching and learning, student behavioral management, student  emotional development, stakeholder engagement and collaboration.
  • Her outstanding vision of a high school that has high aspirations for all students, is committed to meeting the emotional and developmental needs of students and brings together the entire community in support of student success.  She supported this vision with concrete and specific examples of the structures, systems and leadership that is needed to accomplish this vision.
  • Ms. Hayward provided specific examples of how she has been able to deal with difficult student situations, difficult community situations and difficult staff situations. Her examples showed that she is a student centered leader with high professional standards and integrity.

The HKHS search process was a successful and rewarding one. 

In addition to identifying and hiring an outstanding Principal, the depth of the candidate pool and commentary from the candidates made it clear that RSD 17 and HKHS are currently recognized across the state as an educational community committed to excellence.  

Please join me in welcoming Ms. Donna Hayward to our community.


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